SCOPE OF EDUCATION

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 72, 18 December 1920, Page 11

SCOPE OF EDUCATION

CHANGE OF EMPHASIS NEEDED "MAKING FOR CITIZENSHIP" 1 A'jilea for an enlargement of the scope of education,, and a change of emphasis, in'.'order to'nioet the changed necdsv.bf modern life, ivas- made by Profc'SsorMurphy at tho annual prize-giving in connection' with Banks, .College yesterday. He considc'rikl' that too much emphasis was laid''oh one'aspect, of. trailing and life; although he was not. concerncd to decry the value of a classical and literary education. When tho cult of tho classics was introduced in tho Renaissance, it w'as because the classics, wero the'-'vehicle of-'ideas that iwero novel' to Europe Vnftci" the .Dark "Ages,' and' m driving ' tho" classics home : tlie teachers were sowing ideas. -'This ■ -had ' partly censed to -be -the case, and--it,was time the "new'-'liuiniinities" Sit-fthei forni-of tiib : dlebient-s of social '(Scicncei wore given a more prominent pavfc'in -MPconuary and oven primary' education. < "l f he ignnrnnco of the elements of social science and development is. nppalUng/in modeny conv inuiiitics/' lie udded, 'and for want of the light, the. civilised world, is surely moving, closer to, the'abyss. Surely it is important that our children should know the main facts of geography, lustorv, economics, and civics. It is important thai. Ihev sh'oul.d understand the machinery of government, tlie 'eleriiehts the. ci'uital,: labour, and moiiy problems the reaction of geographical environment on institutions, and other similar learning that b?ars importantly on' civic welfare. New- times demand new training. Ihe seats .of civilisation liavo . constancy changed, reminding us that nations can die bv losing the intellectual and spiritual well as tlieiv"material' capital, and the nations that arei to survive and nourish will 'be tViose that pay most attention to ithe 'all-round development of their young people, aiid to training them in what makes for'citizenship in tho best and widest fiense." ''' •